According to the Government’s decision, next year foreigners will be issued no more than 5,500 work permits, including: 3000 authorizations for permanent workers (compared with 4000 approved this year and 5,500 in 2010), 700 for dispatched workers (600 this year, 1000 in 2010), 100 for seasonal workers (200 this year, 400 in 2010), 100 nominal work authorizations (like in 2011 and 2010), 200 for interns (100 this year, 200 in 2010), 300 permits for athletes (300 this year, 500 in 2010) and 100 for trans-border workers (200 this year, 300 in 2010).
A further 1000 work permits have been reserved for next year for highly skilled workers.
The 5,500 foreign workers that may be employed in Romania through work authorizations would make up 0.13% of the total number of employees in the economy – 4,195,700, registered at the end of July 2011.
The Government argues it is necessary to prevent the rise of illegal employment and to limit the number of dispatched workers, because of the danger of “social dumping,” for whom social security contributions are not paid.
Issuing 5,500 work authorizations would earn the state budget around EUR1.1 million. One authorization costs EUR200, except those issued to students or seasonal workers, which cost EUR50.
Data from the Romanian Immigration Office says that, on June 30, 2011, there were 59,566 foreigners registered as residing legally in Romania, including 49,301 temporary residents and 10,256 permanent residents. Of the foreigners with rights of temporary residence, most are members of the families of Romanian citizens (21,394), students (12,718) or employees (6,151).
Most foreigners with temporary residence come from Moldova (16,172), Turkey (6,854) and China (4,438). The majority of foreigners with permanent residence in Romania come from China (2,543), Turkey (2,052) and Syria (975).